Pride 33
Las Vegas, Nevada |attendance = 12,911 (8,334 paid) |gate = $2,033,098 |buyrate = |previous_event = Pride Shockwave 2006 |following_event = Pride 34 |sherdog = 4392 }} Pride 33: The Second Coming was a mixed martial arts event held by Pride Fighting Championships on February 24, 2007 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background In the night's main event welterweight champion Dan Henderson knocked out Pride Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva to become the new middleweight title holder. This victory by Henderson avenged an earlier loss to Silva after their first encounter in 2000 at Pride 12, with Silva winning that fight in a three-round unanimous decision. A fight between Sergei Kharitonov and Gilbert Yvel was submitted for approval by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC). However, the fight did not take place after Yvel was denied a fighter's license by the NSAC based on a history of disqualification from multiple fights, most notably, his infamous attack on a referee. Kharitonov instead fought Mike Russow defeating him with an armbar. A fight between Wes Sims and Kazuyuki Fujita was proposed but the NSAC turned it down due to competitive reasons—the fighters were at unequal experience/talent levels. After that a Wes Sims-Mark Hunt fight was turned down as well. The NSAC confirmed that Fujita would not be fighting anyone on the Pride 33 card as the deadline for receiving fighters over the age of 35 (Fujita was 36) medical records had passed (they must be submitted one week before the show so they can be properly reviewed and cleared). Travis Wiuff's original opponent, Kazuhiro Nakamura, did not fight due to a knee injury. Results Joachim Hansen vs. Jason Ireland :Joachim Hansen defeated Jason Ireland at 2:33 into the third round via armbar. Frank Trigg vs. Kazuo Misaki :Frank Trigg defeated Welterweight Grand Prix Champion Kazuo Misaki via unanimous decision. Travis Wiuff vs. James Lee :James Lee defeated Travis Wiuff at :39 into the first round via guillotine choke. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou :Sokoudjou defeated Antonio Rogerio Nogueria via knockout at :23 into the first round. Hayato Sakurai vs. Mac Danzig :Hayato Sakurai defeated Mac Danzig at 4:01 into the second round via knockout. Sergei Kharitonov vs. Mike Russow :Sergei Kharitonov defeated Michael Russow at 3:46 into the first round via an armbar from the guard. Russow protests the tap out but the replay shows otherwise. Mauricio Rua vs. Alistair Overeem :In a rematch from Pride Final Conflict 2005, Mauricio Rua defeated Alistair Overeem via knockout at 3:37 into the first round. Takanori Gomi vs. Nick Diaz :Diaz defeated Gomi via a gogoplata submission at 1:46 in the second round. However, the result was later changed to No-Contest by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after Diaz tested positive for marijuana in a post fight drug test. Wanderlei Silva vs. Dan Henderson :Dan Henderson defeated Wanderlei Silva via knockout, finishing him with a left hook set up by a spinning back fist at 2:08 in the third round. In becoming the new Pride middleweight champion with this win, Henderson also made history by being the first ever mixed martial artist to simultaneously reign as champion in two separate weight classes in a major organization. Fighter payouts *'Wanderlei Silva': $150,000 *'Dan Henderson': $50,000 *'Mauricio “Shogun” Rua': $50,000 *'Takanori Gomi': $20,000 *'Antonio Rogerio Nogueira': $20,000 *'Nick Diaz': $15,000 *'Joachim Hansen': $15,000 *'Hayato Sakurai': $10,000 *'Frank Trigg': $10,000 *'Kazuo Misaki': $10,000 *'Sergei Kharitonov': $10,000 *'Alistair Overeem': $10,000 *'Travis Wiuff': $10,000 *'Sokoudjou': $10,000 *'Mac Danzig': $10,000 *'Jason Ireland': $10,000 *'Mike Russow': $10,000 *'James Lee': $10,000 Total Fighter Payouts: $430,000 External links * 3